"Visually, it looks like the death-row gallery where members of the public watch executions"

Steve Elling gets it all wrong in describing the PGA Tour's idea to offer a one-way mirror for BMW Championship fans to watch slouching scribblers lobbing questions to the few remaining players willing to visit the media center. Granted it does sound like an execution chamber setup, but have you been out on the golf course yet, Steve? I doubt it, because had you studied the gem known as Bellerive, you would know that fans might just better enjoy themselves watching tepid exchanges between players and media!

Life in a fishbowl pretty closely describes the working conditions for media this week at the BMW Championship, where the PGA Tour alarmingly signed off on a plan in which fans who bought tickets to the tournament can watch the press interview players from behind the anonymity of one-way mirrors.

Here's the sneakiest and most unethical part -- tour stars and media were not informed that fans were being directed to the area while the interview sessions were being conducted in advance of the tournament, which begins Thursday.

Consider this before making a snap decision: Would you want spectators lining up at your office to watch you toil through one-way mirrors, especially if you didn't know they were there, or if you hadn’t given advanced consent?

That's exactly the scenario at Bellerive Country Club, where the tour caved to the deep-pocketed title sponsor's wish to let fans get closer to the players by selling out the media on hand to cover the event.

Personally, I think they've missed out on introducing one of the most exciting innovations in PGA Tour history. I would have set up a one-way mirror to allow fans the chance to watch the media eat. I see some great will-Spaulding-eat-his-boogers wagers as a writer finishes up his lunch and debates whether to pick up a second lemon bar before heading back to his work station to check out the latest posts on SportsJournalists.com.

Now that's entertainment.

Elling also reports that Mother Nature has issued her verdict on watching golf at Bellerive by sending the remnants of Gustav toward Missouri:

The ugly remnants from Hurricane Gustav are washing over the BMW Championship, flash-flood warnings have been issued throughout the state and if anybody plays Thursday, when the forecast calls for a 100 percent chance of rain as heavy as 10 inches, it'll be a shocking surprise.